Former MF Global Exec: Corzine Ordered $200M Transfer

Former MF Global Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine prepares to testifiy before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee about the demise and bankruptcy of MF Global on December 13, 2011 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork/AP) — A former MF Global executive is contradicting testimony from Jon Corzine, saying the former New Jersey governor ordered the transfer of $200 million out of a customer account days before the firm collapsed, according to an email obtained by congressional investigators.

In December, Corzine told the panel: “I did not instruct anyone to lend customer funds to MF Global or any of its affiliates.” Corzine also said he didn’t know about “the use of customer funds on any loan or transfer.”

Former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz says it’s hard to say if Corzine is in real trouble.

“Depending upon how someone answers questions, it can be very difficult to prove perjury,” he said.

Mintz says prosecutors will more likely focus on any criminal actions that could be connected to the disappearance of the money.

MF Global collapsed into the eighth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history after a disastrous bet on European debt. An estimated $1.2 billion in client funds are missing.

No one has been charged in the MF Global case. In addition to Congress, federal regulators and a federal grand jury in Chicago are investigating.

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